The world's wealthiest shelled out record amounts for collectibles such as rare books, cars, and wine, among other items.

Are billionaires just naturally bubbly? Maybe when it comes to collectibles. The year past has been a chart-topper not just for fine art sales—Francis Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" fetched $142 million at auction, a record—but also for many less-rarefied items: cars, wine, old books, American paintings, coins and diamonds.